Scottish Executive

Air Services

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage more tourists to visit the north east by increasing the availability of direct international flights to and from Aberdeen airport.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive, through its Interim Route Development Fund, is actively promoting Aberdeen Airport. It is engaging with airlines on potential new routes from Scotland, including Aberdeen, which could enhance business links and encourage in-bound tourism. In addition, VisitScotland and the local area tourist board recognise the importance of improving access to Aberdeen and the benefits direct flights can bring, and therefore work in partnership with the airport and airlines. VisitScotland includes details of all direct flights to Scotland and Aberdeen on its website www.visitcotland.com and, where appropriate, it may invest in joint promotional work with airlines.

Buildings

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether fire sprinklers will be made mandatory in certain technical building standards as part of the guidelines and regulation in respect of the Building Standards (Scotland) Act 2003.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: We intend to use the building regulations to introduce a requirement to install sprinkler systems in the following categories of new or converted buildings:

  high rise flats

  residential care units

  sheltered housing.

Communities

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that its policies recognise the diverse needs of people from all cultures across Scotland.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive is committed to equality of opportunity for all. The implementation of our Equality Strategy recognises the complexity of needs and diversity among different communities in Scotland. Work is on-going to ensure that an equality perspective is integrated into the Scottish Executive’s policy development, legislation, spending plans, and delivery.

Economy

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to lower distribution costs and increase competition, in light of the increase in input inflation on raw materials, particularly steel and paper, for manufacturing over the last two months, as referred to in the recent PMI Scotland Report, and the implications for revenues and jobs.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive made provision, in the Spending Review 2002-06 for substantially increased funding for transport infrastructure and communication links to improve the flow of people and goods within Scotland. Improved transportation infrastructure is a key factor in helping to reduce industry’s distribution costs and in increasing their competitiveness.

  I also refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-7035 on 29 March 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search wa.

Energy

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make an announcement on the proposal to extend the Fasnakyle hydroelectric generating station near Cannich by Beauly in Inverness-shire.

Lewis Macdonald: I can announce that the Scottish Ministers have granted consent on this proposal in terms of section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. Additionally this consent carries deemed planning permission in terms of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997.

  This announcement follows a consultation process which involved environmental groups, government bodies and the local authority. Highland Council supported this proposal as it is an additional contribution to renewable energy resources which is supported by their planning policies.

Equine Industry

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what contribution equine sport and activity and the equine industry make to Scotland’s rural economy in terms of employment and percentage of GDP and whether there is a long term economic strategy for this industry.

Mr Frank McAveety: For statistical purposes industries are classified according to the UK Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities 1992, produced by the Office of National Statistics. There is no specific category for the equine industry in these classifications so consequently information on the contribution of the equine industry to Scotland’s rural economy is not currently available.

  I will be meeting the Scottish Equestrian Association in May to discuss how the Executive can help the industry.

  The Executive’s objectives for all sectors of Scottish industry, including the equine industry, are built around the need to improve competitiveness and productivity, as set out in the Framework for Economic Development in Scotland and a Smart Successful Scotland.

Further and Higher Education

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what tools it uses to ensure that proper comparisons can be made between Scotland and other countries in respect of participation rates in higher and further education.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive uses a range of data to compare participation rates in Scotland with those of other countries. In particular the Executive is developing tertiary education participation indicators which are compliant with the OECD’s publication Education At A Glance . These are likely to be published for the first time in the summer and annually thereafter.

General Practitioners

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will support GPs who occupy premises that cannot be brought up to standard to provide primary care and therefore require replacement.

Malcolm Chisholm: Decisions about the location of GP premises are devolved to local NHS boards. It is for them to develop their own premises strategy to identify priorities for new builds and development of existing premises.

  The allocations letter issued on 13 February 2004 details earmarked revenue funding for GP premises and involves an increase in investment of approximately 70% in recurring funding over a three year period.

  NHS boards may also deploy their capital allocations to support primary care development and support projects that seek to deliver the Executive’s vision for Community Health Service Centres, as detailed in the partnership agreement. It is for NHS boards themselves to allocate these funds against individual projects.

General Practitioners

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any GP premises that require building work will not be eligible for funding announced in its press release SEHD635/2004 on 13 February 2004.

Malcolm Chisholm: It is for each NHS board to prioritise the application of local revenue funds in accordance with its local property strategy, which should take into account the needs of all GP practices in its area.

General Practitioners

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-6552 by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 March 2004, whether measures being undertaken in respect of the establishment of new out-of-hours services will ensure that the ratio of GPs to patients must be above one to 72,000, stating the reasons for its position on the matter.

Malcolm Chisholm: There are no plans to issue definitive guidance on the ratio of GPs to patients in respect of the re-provision of out-of-hours services.

  As I have already stated in answer given to question S2W-6552, alternative arrangements for out-of-hours services will need to meet mandatory accreditation standards to ensure a safe, quality service. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

  Whilst the re-provision may involve General Practitioners, it may also include other staff groups such as NHS 24 and the ambulance service.

General Practitioners

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-6608 by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 March 2004, whether it plans to introduce regulations or proposals to allow consideration to be given to objections by patients to any applicant for a general practice vacancy as part of the (a) interview process and (b) consequent decision making process for awarding a contract.

Malcolm Chisholm: We would expect NHS boards to take account of patients’ views concerning any impact on service provision when deciding to fill a general practice vacancy, and this is enshrined in our "Patient Focus and Public Involvement" framework. However it would be inappropriate for patient objections to any individual applicant to be allowed to influence the process whereby applicants are interviewed and selected to fill general practice vacancies. In the case of services from general practitioners, under the new contract patients will retain the right to transfer to another practice if they so wish.

General Practitioners

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-6607 by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 March 2004, how often recommendations made to it by the Scottish Medical Practices Committee have been (a) rejected or (b) referred back for further consideration, in each of the last five years.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Medical Practices Committee makes no recommendations to the Scottish Executive when a vacancy for a general practitioner is due to be filled. In terms of the National Health Service (General Medical Services)(Scotland) Regulations 1995 it is for the Committee to direct the NHS board as to whether a vacancy should be filled and there is no provision for a board to reject or refer back the Committee’s direction.

Health

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost is to the NHS of admitting patients to hospital who have failed to take medicines prescribed to them by their GPs.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally.

Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any research is currently being carried out into attention deficit hyperkenetic disorder and drug misuse and, if so, who is carrying out the research and when the results will be available.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Chief Scientist Office (CSO), within the Scottish Executive Health Department, has responsibility for funding and supporting research into health and healthcare needs in Scotland. CSO is not funding any research on attention deficit hyperkinetic disorder (ADHD) and drug misuse.

  The National Research Register (NRR), a UK wide research database, records that there are 11 on-going research projects in the UK on ADHD none of which are on ADHD and drug misuse.

Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperkenetic disorder, broken down by (a) age, (b) gender and (c) NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information is not available in the form requested. It is estimated that 1,850 people, all under the age of 17, were seen by general practitioners in respect of hyperactivity disorders in the year ended March 2003. This is based on the activity of 64 Scottish General Practices with a combined patient population of 414,377.

Higher Education

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that statistics regarding Scottish higher education will be directly comparable with other countries in the European higher education area before 2010.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive will carry out any required work in consultation with data providers and other UK administrations in line with the normal National Statistics arrangements.

  Statisticians and other analysts working within the Scottish Executive are in regular contact with data providers, other UK administrations and the funding councils regarding higher education statistics. In particular, active membership of the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) statutory business committee and its sub groups will ensure that any necessary preparation work is carried out by HESA.

Hospitals

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any proposals to provide a minor injuries clinic in central Edinburgh following the relocation of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and whether there has been an increase in ambulance call-outs from the city centre following the relocation of the infirmary.

Malcolm Chisholm: The planning and provision of minor injuries services are operational matters for NHS boards, in this case NHS Lothian. I understand that NHS Lothian is currently reviewing service options, including the provision of minor injuries clinics in locations across the health board’s area, including Edinburgh city.

  I further understand from the Scottish Ambulance Service that, since March 2003, when the bulk of services provided at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh were relocated to Little France, there has been a 1% increase in the number of 999 emergency ambulance calls across the relevant catchment area. Other parts of Scotland have experienced larger increases in call numbers.

Housing

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much expenditure has been set aside for New Housing Partnership challenge funding and (a) what level of and (b) to whom such funding was distributed in each year for which it has been available.

Ms Margaret Curran: The information on resources currently earmarked for each council and the spend for each complete year to date is set out in the table. It updates the information provided in the answer given to question S1W-32778 and takes into account changes in NHP allocations and reconciliations on outturn expenditure since then. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/sch/search.

  

 Local Authority
 Total 
  NHP Resources currently allocated/ earmarked
 Outturn 
  1998-1999
 Outturn 
  1999-2000
 Outturn 
  2000-2001
 Outturn 
  2001-2002
 Outturn 
  2002-2003


 Aberdeen City
 1,181,228
 143,000
 202,000
 390,020
 446,208
 0


 Aberdeenshire
 6,934,680
 65,000
 1,028,490
 2,105,021
 3,412,410
 0


 Argyll and Bute
 2,380,400
 0
 95,000
 0
 0
 107,673


 Clackmannanshire
 880,000
 780,000
 79,025
 7,224
 13,750
 0


 Comharlie nan Eilean Siar
 2,038,138
 21,000
 52,405
 122,250
 134,600
 375,187


 Dumfries and Galloway
 4,983,816
 100,000
 349,994
 1,125,425
 2,491,000
 799,300


 Dundee City
 26,348,784
 712,000
 1,808,315
 7,916,532
 12,368,349
 2,525,242


 East Ayrshire
 1,260,967
 1,260,967
 0
 0
 0
 0


 East Dunbartonshire
 9,054,000
 318,000
 172,249
 379,587
 427,100
 696,170


 East Lothian
 10,698,712
 1,919,759
 1,261,178
 1,783,850
 2,720,000
 1,800,000


 East Renfrewshire
 125,000
 25,000
 0
 80,000
 0
 0


 City of Edinburgh
 52,244,617
 6,048,532
 8,300,042
 12,967,598
 8,205,570
 4,613,907


 Falkirk
 200,000
 0
 190,000
 0
 0
 0


 Fife
 6,125,000
 96,000
 133,580
 0
 433,331
 408,956


 Glasgow City
 80,950,317
 6,982,320
 8,088,535
 11,457,192
 18,225,848
 24,405,154


 Highland
 8,038,975
 916,000
 1,347,990
 2,994,058
 2,256,533
 524,394


 Inverclyde
 385,233
 0
 43,900
 74,200
 39,640
 96,505


 Midlothian
 154,000
 0
 0
 139,000
 15,000
 0


 Moray
 12,583,035
 8,000
 905,640
 838,707
 1,629,336
 9,201,352


 North Ayrshire
 2,829,598
 78,000
 451,545
 5,445
 1,077,477
 809,060


 North Lanarkshire
 12,566,834
 4,525,429
 4,495,630
 2,238,375
 1,261,400
 46,000


 Orkney Islands
 166,546
 0
 99,500
 0
 67,046
 0


 Perth and Kinross
 688,275
 74,000
 66,000
 5,872
 231,710
 310,693


 Renfrewshire
 2,947,696
 93,000
 19,457
 525,267
 977,154
 1,016,318


 Scottish Borders
 5,500,535
 83,000
 369,298
 767,000
 2,989,600
 650,343


 Shetland
 1,123,878
 200,000
 104,792
 147,251
 441,257
 230,578


 South Ayrshire
 197,000
 0
 121,113
 75,886
 0
 0


 South Lanarkshire
 8,916,381
 825,000
 1,636,700
 1,326,112
 2,947,897
 2,180,672


 Stirling
 9,058,861
 4,000
 1,572,212
 2,635,461
 1,411,091
 1,547,141


 West Dunbartonshire
 81,000
 11,000
 0
 70,000
 0
 0


 West Lothian
 11,179,500
 2,087,000
 2,143,000
 1,585,678
 2,487,037
 1,834,989


 Total
 281,823,006
 27,376,007
 35,137,590
 51,763,011
 66,710,344
 54,179,634



  Note: The figures above include NHP resources allocated through Communities Scotland.

Housing

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been allocated under the New Housing Partnership programme in each year since its inception; whether any changes have been made to these allocations and, if so, whether it will detail the changes made, and what underspend there has been in each year, all broken down by local authority.

Ms Margaret Curran: Details of the allocations of resources to councils under the New Housing Partnership programme and underspends against those allocations in each year since its inception are set out in the tables. The figures in the following tables are not cumulative. Allocations are determined on an annual basis taking into account the outturn in previous years.

  Table 1: Allocation of NHP Resources

  

 Council
 NHP 
  Final allocations in 1998-1999
 NHP 
  Final allocations in 1999-2000
 NHP 
  Final allocations in 2000-2001
 NHP 
  Final allocations in 2001-2002
 NHP 
  Final allocations in 2002-2003
 NHP 
  Final allocations in 2003-2004


 Aberdeen City
 330,000
 302,000
 390,020
 446,208
 0
 0


 Aberdeenshire
 65,000
 1,028,490
 2,105,021
 3,412,410
 0
 0


 Argyll and Bute
 0
 95,000
 71,250
 100,000
 150,000
 582,500


 Clackmannanshire
 780,000
 100,000
 21,000
 13,750
 0
 0


 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
 56,000
 116,000
 167,000
 134,600
 566,750
 717,461


 Dumfries and Galloway
 100,000
 350,000
 1,125,425
 2,576,048
 799,300
 118,097


 Dundee City
 3,275,000
 7,081,000
 8,288,250
 12,448,349
 2,615,242
 1,093,680


 East Ayrshire
 1,260,967
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 East Dunbartonshire
 319,000
 534,000
 828,000
 427,100
 792,152
 469,382


 East Lothian
 2,945,000
 2,149,000
 2,702,850
 2,720,000
 1,800,000
 1,213,925


 East Renfrewshire
 25,000
 100,000
 100,000
 0
 0
 0


 City of Edinburgh
 7,718,000
 8,958,042
 13,556,930
 8,551,520
 4,873,156
 4,644,760


 Falkirk
 200,000
 200,000
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Fife
 125,000
 319,000
 0
 573,000
 475,419
 0


 Glasgow City
 8,915,000
 8,215,000
 14,954,289
 22,988,000
 27,466,504
 


 Highland
 993,000
 1,468,450
 3,133,108
 2,780,927
 524,394
 0


 Inverclyde
 33,000
 129,000
 98,333
 210,000
 194,493
 0


 Midlothian
 0
 31,000
 154,000
 15,000
 0
 0


 Moray
 20,000
 912,640
 937,000
 1,629,336
 9,201,382
 0


 North Ayrshire
 82,000
 639,000
 542,056
 1,817,553
 809,060
 41,507


 North Lanarkshire
 4,752,000
 4,581,630
 2,250,000
 1,261,400
 46,000
 0


 Orkney Islands
 0
 99,500
 0
 67,046
 0
 0


 Perth and Kinross
 187,000
 113,000
 47,000
 275,000
 310,693
 0


 Renfrewshire
 93,000
 999,000
 629,000
 984,336
 1,016,318
 110,845


 Scottish Borders
 105,000
 369,298
 767,000
 3,608,894
 650,343
 55,949


 Shetland
 200,000
 451,000
 219,000
 442,000
 230,828
 0


 South Ayrshire
 
 140,000
 75,886
 0
 0
 0


 South Lanarkshire
 750,000
 1,706,000
 2,465,000
 4,280,000
 2,180,672
 0


 Stirling
 310,000
 1,751,000
 3,236,780
 1,411,091
 1,547,141
 1,078,249


 West Dunbartonshire
 15,000
 0
 70,000
 30,000
 0
 0


 West Lothian
 2,630,000
 2,393,000
 1,849,040
 2,487,037
 1,834,989
 1,092,983


 Total
 3,705,000
 45,331,050
 60,783,238
 75,690,605
 58,084,836
 2,379,533



  Table 2: Underspend Against Allocation of NHP Resources

  

 Council
 Underspend 
  in 1998-99
 Underspend 
  in 1999-00
 Underspend 
  in 2000-01
 Underspend 
  in 2001-02
 Underspend 
  in 2002-03


 Aberdeen City
 187,000
 100,000
 0
 0
 0


 Aberdeenshire
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Argyll and Bute
 0
 856,000
 71,250
 100,000
 42,327


 Clackmannanshire
 0
 20,975
 13,776
 0
 0


 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
 35,000
 63,595
 44,750
 0
 191,563


 Dumfries and Galloway
 0
 6
 0
 85,048
 0


 Dundee City
 2,563,000
 5,272,685
 371,718
 80,000
 90,000


 East Ayrshire
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 East Dunbartonshire
 1,000
 361,751
 448,413
 0
 95,982


 East Lothian
 1,025,241
 887,822
 919,000
 0
 0


 East Renfrewshire
 0
 100,000
 20,000
 0
 0


 City of Edinburgh
 
 
 
 
 


 Falkirk
 200,000
 10,000
 0
 0
 0


 Fife
 29,000
 185,420
 0
 139,669
 66,463


 Glasgow City
 
 
 
 
 


 Highland
 77,000
 120,460
 139,050
 524,394
 0


 Inverclyde
 33,000
 85,100
 24,133
 170,360
 97,988


 Midlothian
 0
 31,000
 15,000
 0
 0


 Moray
 12,000
 7,000
 98,293
 0
 30


 North Ayrshire
 4,000
 187,455
 536,611
 740,076
 0


 North Lanarkshire
 226,571
 86,000
 11,625
 0
 0


 Orkney Islands
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Perth and Kinross
 113,000
 47,000
 41,128
 43,290
 0


 Renfrewshire
 0
 979,543
 103,733
 7,182
 0


 Scottish Borders
 22,000
 0
 0
 619,294
 0


 Shetland
 0
 346,208
 71,749
 743
 250


 South Ayrshire
 0
 18,887
 0
 0
 0


 South Lanarkshire
 -75,000
 69,300
 1,138,888
 1,332,103
 0


 Stirling
 306,000
 178,788
 601,319
 0
 0


 West Dunbartonshire
 4,000
 0
 0
 30,000
 0


 West Lothian
 543,000
 250,000
 263,362
 0
 0


 Total
 1,265,571
 2,406,741
 3,044,891
 3,467,442
 98,268



  Note: The figures in the Tables include NHP resources allocated through Communities Scotland.

Justice

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are plans to introduce legislation regarding the anti-social use of cars in line with new powers being given to courts in England and Wales to deal with drivers who use their vehicles to commit crime or behave anti-socially.

Cathy Jamieson: I am consulting the Office of the Solicitor to the Advocate General on this matter and will write to the member regarding this matter and place a copy of the letter in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Land

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has carried out any research on factors affecting land supply for recent commercial developments.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: No research has specifically addressed this matter, but aspects of land availability for commercial development have been examined in recent studies published by the Scottish Executive. These include Land Values and the Implications for Planning Policy" and "Obsolete Commercial and Industrial Property . Copies of these reports are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 25309 and 31964 respectively).

National Health Service

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to reduce the number of adverse events in the NHS, analyse the impact of such events on patient care and staff, combat any "blame culture" in the NHS and learn from past mistakes.

Malcolm Chisholm: Patient safety has always been a priority for NHS boards and is an integral part of the clinical governance arrangements which all boards are required to have in place.

  NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHSQIS) have undertaken two national reviews to monitor progress in relation to its clinical governance standards and have examined the systems in place to address patient safety issues.

  NHS Quality Improvement Scotland will be consulting shortly on its proposals for a patient safety strategy for Scotland and is also working closely with the National Patients Safety Agency (NPSA) in England and Wales.

National Health Service

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the patient to staff ratio is for each acute hospital, showing the percentage variation in relation to the guidelines based on the hospital's or NHS board's preferred formula that takes into account the workload and responsibilities for each hospital.

Malcolm Chisholm: The specific information requested is not centrally available. In particular, information on staff numbers is not collected nationally at individual hospital level and is therefore not possible to identify acute hospital staff as requested. Information on guidelines issued by hospitals or NHS boards on recommended staffing levels is not collected centrally.

National Health Service

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number of hours of sick leave was per staff member in each NHS board in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Malcolm Chisholm: A pilot collection of occupational health and safety statistics has been made over the period 2000-01 to 2002-03 and these are due to be published shortly. The published data is not considered robust enough to be issued by NHS employer and will be shown by Scotland; Acute Trust, Island Boards and Scottish Ambulance Service; Primary Care Trust, State Hospital, and Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service; and health boards and special health boards not providing healthcare. The data collected on sickness absence is a percentage of the hours lost.

  For 2002-03 the data is:

  

 Scotland
 4.63%


 Acute Trusts
 4.29%


 Primary care Trusts
 5.21%


 Health Boards
 4.23%



  Preparations are underway to collect data for 2003-04 which should be available in the autumn.

National Health Service

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of contracted hours of NHS trust and board staff were lost to sickness absence in 2002-03 and what the trend has been of sickness absences over the last five years.

Malcolm Chisholm: A pilot collection of occupational health and safety statistics has been made over the period 2000-01 to 2002-03 and these are due to be published shortly. The published data is not considered robust enough to be issued by NHS employer and will be shown by Scotland; Acute Trust, Island boards and Scottish Ambulance Service; Primary Care Trust, State Hospital, and Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service; and health boards and special health boards not providing healthcare. The data collected on sickness absence is a percentage of the hours lost. The trend for the three years collected is:

  

  
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03


 Scotland
 4.81%
 5.24%
 4.63%


 Acute Trusts
 4.55%
 5.06%
 4.29%


 Primary Care Trusts
 5.15%
 5.58%
 5.21%


 Health Boards
 5.80%
 3.92%
 4.23%

National Health Service

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost to the NHS was of the total amount of staff time lost to sickness absence and how much was paid to staff in occupational sick pay, over the last five years.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not collected centrally.

National Health Service

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost of replacement bank, agency and locum staff was to the NHS in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Malcolm Chisholm: The total costs associated with bank nurse, agency nurse and locum usage for 2002-03 are as follows:

  Bank Nurse spend - £39 million

  Agency Nurse spend - £28.1 million

  Locum spend (for directly employed medical and dental locum staff in NHS Scotland) - £17.4 million (full year to March 2003).

National Health Service

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its Health Department has established a common definition of sickness absence and collated and disseminated any central information on levels of sickness absence across NHS trust on the same basis as the exercise carried out in England.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Health Department established a common definition for the calculation of sickness absence as part of the occupational health minimum dataset pilot collection. The three years information is due to be published shortly and while the pilot data is not considered robust enough to be published by NHSScotland employer, the intention is for future publications to be published at that level.

National Health Service

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the management procedures are for sickness absence in the NHS.

Malcolm Chisholm: The management procedures for promoting attendance are set out in the Managing Health at Work Partnership Information Network guideline. NHSScotland employers are expected to meet or exceed the guideline which can be seen at following website address http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/health/pinmhw.pdf.

National Health Service

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the level of sickness absence has been in each NHS trust and board over the last five years; what average estimated annual amount is paid by NHS trusts in occupational sick pay, and whether there are any plans to reduce levels of sickness absence in the NHS.

Malcolm Chisholm: A pilot collection of occupational health and safety statistics has been made over the period 2000-01 to 2002-03 and these are due to be published shortly. The published data is not considered robust enough to be issued by NHS employer and will be shown by Scotland; Acute Trust, Island boards and Scottish Ambulance Service; Primary Care Trust, State Hospital, and Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service; and health boards and special health boards not providing healthcare. The data collected on sickness absence is a percentage of the hours lost. The trend for the three years collected is:

  

  
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03


 Scotland
 4.81%
 5.24%
 4.63%


 Acute Trusts
 4.55%
 5.06%
 4.29%


 Primary Care Trusts
 5.15%
 5.58%
 5.21%


 Health Boards
 5.80%
 3.92%
 4.23%



  Information on the level of occupational sick pay is not collected centrally.

  NHSScotland is committed to reducing sickness absence. To help employers accomplish this, the Partnership Information Network issued guidance in January 2003 on Managing Health at Work. The section on "promoting attendance" section has the aim of helping employers to make the most of reducing short and long term absence by promoting positive attitudes to work and reducing staff ill-health as far as possible.

National Health Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many GP practices there are and, of these, how many require work to be undertaken in order to be compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2004, broken down by NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The number of General Medical Service practices, containing unrestricted principals and their equivalents in Personal Medical Service practices, are shown in the attached table.

  It is for NHS boards to maintain plans for the development of GP premises to deliver General Medical Services, Primary Medical Services from 1 April 2004, in accordance with legislation and guidance from time to time in force. Information on the number of GP practices covered by NHS boards’ plans is not held centrally.

  The information on the number of GP practices requiring work undertaken to meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is also not held centrally.

  However, NHS boards should now have conducted access audits and shared the results with practices, who as the service providers, have the responsibility to meet the requirements of the Act.

  

 Health Board
 Total 
  Number Of
Practices1


 Argyll and Clyde
 97


 Ayrshire and Arran
 61


 Borders
 23


 Dumfries and Galloway
 35


 Fife
 60


 Forth Valley
 57


 Grampian
 85


 Greater Glasgow
 215


 Highland
 72


 Lanarkshire
 101


 Lothian
 130


 Orkney
 15


 Shetland
 10


 Tayside
 72


 Western Isles
 14


 Total
 1,047



  Note:

  1. Comprises the total number of Unrestricted Principal practices by health

  board as at 1 October 2003. There are an additional 11 restricted practices.

National Health Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been provided to NHS boards for primary medical services, as referred in its press release SEHD 635/2004 on 13 February 2004, and how many GP practices in each NHS board area will benefit, expressed also as a percentage of the total number of practices in each board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The amount of funding allocated to NHS boards is highlighted in the following table.

  

 NHS Health
Board
 2004-5 Allocation
(£)
 2005-6 Allocation
(£)


 Argyll and Clyde
 4,108,221
 5,696,350


 Ayrshire and Arran
 2,728,585
 3,535,763


 Borders
 1,368,099
 1,615,988


 Dumfries and Galloway
 1,489,000
 2,463,680


 Fife
 2,853,095
 3,378,218


 Forth Valley
 2,691,593
 3,189,174


 Grampian
 6,653,000
 8,302,780


 Greater Glasgow
 7,727,500
 9,577,050


 Highland
 3,402,437
 4,351,676


 Lanarkshire
 3,441,121
 4,269,955


 Lothian
 10,559,667
 12,206,529


 Orkney
 190,878
 258,488


 Shetland
 151,221
 148,219


 Tayside
 7,639,555
 8,548,829


 Western Isles
 540,871
 584,691


 Totals
 55,544,843
 68,127,389



  The allocation of the funding is the responsibility of the local NHS board in accordance with the locally agreed property strategy for investment prioritisation.

National Health Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a building occupied by a GP practice, but not owned by the NHS, that required upgrading work would be eligible for the funding made available for building and upgrading GP premises.

Malcolm Chisholm: It is for each NHS board to prioritise the application of local revenue funds in accordance with its local property strategy, which should take into account the needs of all GP practices in its area, irrespective of whether the premises are privately or publicly owned. NHS boards also have access to their capital allocations in respect of publicly owned premises.

National Health Service

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applicants there were for the post of Chair of NHS Fife and how many applicants were selected for final stage interviews and final stage selection processes.

Malcolm Chisholm: A total of seven applications were received for the position of Chair of Fife NHS Board. Of these, four applicants have been invited for interview.

National Health Service

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on what date the new Chair of NHS Fife will be in post.

Malcolm Chisholm: Interviews are scheduled for 6 April and shortly after this date we will liaise with the board to agree a start date for the new Chair.

National Health Service

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-6332 by Malcolm Chisholm on 15 March 2004, how it ensures that enough consultant hours are deployed in the NHS given that information on the hours they work is not available centrally and whether it has any plans to ask NHS boards to collate and produce such information.

Malcolm Chisholm: The new Consultant Contract introduces job planning as a mandatory, annual part of the process, supported by an agreed appraisal system. Through the job planning process, local NHS organisations and consultants have the opportunity to quantify the number of hours spent on direct clinical care activities and on supporting professional activities. It is the responsibility of the local NHS organisations to ensure that the direct clinical activities focus on the aims and objectives of the local health community and the organisation, thus maximising direct clinical care and more transparent flexible working patterns.

  Currently, as part of the self-assessment audit process for staff governance which informs the performance assessment framework, NHS boards must provide evidence of European Working Time Directive compliance. The number of actual hours worked by consultants is integral to this compliance.

National Health Service

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, under the new consultants’ contract, consultants carrying out private work during their NHS contracted time will have their NHS salaries amended accordingly.

Malcolm Chisholm: Under the new contract consultants are not permitted to carry out private practice during time contracted to the NHS, with the exception of a defined list of fee paying work outlined at Appendix 5 (a) to the contract. At the discretion of the employer, the consultant can carry out this work within contracted time and retain the fee. This is only permitted where the employer deems such work to cause minimal disruption to NHS activities.

  A major benefit of the new contract is the inclusion of a Code of Conduct spelling out the relationship between private practice and NHS work. The Code of Conduct aims to minimise the risk of any perceived potential conflicts of interest between private and NHS work. It also makes it clear that the provision of services for private patients should not prejudice the interest of NHS patients or disrupt NHS services. Any consultant wishing to undertake private practice is obliged to offer their local NHS employer additional activity at normal pay rates before undertaking private work.

Nursery Nurses

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to COSLA regarding the nursery nurses’ pay claim since the nurses began indefinite industrial action.

Euan Robson: The Executive has regular dialogue with COSLA on a number of topical issues.

Planning

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is planned to speed up the approval of structure plans.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Executive is currently taking forward a programme to modernise the development planning system. In the Review of Strategic Planning, Next Steps and Conclusions (June 2002) ministers agreed that structure plans were not required across the country and that new city region plans would be prepared for only the four largest cities – Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

  A further consultation is expected shortly which will take forward the proposals and set out the detailed arrangements for the new city region plans, including proposals to increase the speed and transparency of the approval process.

Planning

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether section 75 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Scottish Planning Policy 1: The Planning System sets out the role of the European Convention on Human Rights within the planning system. The Executive undertook a review of existing planning legislation from the perspective of the European Convention on Human Rights in 1999. We concluded that the current planning system with its inbuilt checks and safeguards is compatible with the Convention. The Scottish Executive issued guidance on the Human Rights Act 1998 and ECHR to all public authorities, including planning authorities in January 2000. However, we keep under review the need to amend existing law and procedures (whether in the planning field or elsewhere) to comply with the Convention.

Police

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will issue revised Special Branch guidelines for the police.

Cathy Jamieson: Together with the Home Office and the Northern Ireland Office, I am today publishing revised Guidelines for Special Branch Working in the UK . The guidelines were produced in consultation with the police service, the Security Service and other relevant partners.

  The new guidelines describe, for the first time in a publicly available document, the roles and responsibilities of Special Branch in the UK; the legislative framework within which they operate; and the manner in which Special Branch work is co-ordinated across the UK.

Population

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what dispersal strategy is planned to ensure that people are encouraged to live in the Highlands, under its plans to attract economic migrants to Scotland.

Mr Jack McConnell: The new Relocation Advisory Centre will seek to ensure that potential economic migrants are made aware of the opportunities available throughout Scotland.

Prescription Charges

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the conclusions of its review of NHS prescription charges.

Malcolm Chisholm: Proposals for the detailed remit and conduct of the review are currently being considered by ministers. I expect to be able to make an announcement shortly, which will include information on the timetable for completion of this project.

Prescription Charges

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on recent research in Canada, adverse events associated with prescription drug cost-sharing among poor and elderly patients, referring to a correlation between increasing charges for medicines and a fall in the number of patients taking up treatment.

Malcolm Chisholm: I am not familiar with this Canadian research project. The Executive is concerned to ensure that patients in Scotland need not be deterred from obtaining the medicine they need on financial grounds. We therefore have an extensive system of exemption and remission of charges which is designed to support vulnerable patients. Under the current arrangements 91% of prescribed items are supplied to the patient free of charge and we estimate that 50% of the population is entitled to free prescriptions.

Prescription Charges

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had, and plans to have, with the Welsh Assembly with regard to the Assembly's decision to abolish prescription charges.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive has not held discussions with the Welsh Assembly on this subject and has no plans to do so.

Prescription Charges

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it calculates the discount given to chronically sick patients who purchase NHS prescriptions through four-month or annual pre-payment certificates.

Malcolm Chisholm: Prescription pre-payment certificates offer savings to people who need more than five prescriptions over a four month period or 14 prescriptions in a year. The cost of pre-payment certificates rises in line with changes to the flat rate per item charge. There is no discount calculation as such.

Prescription Charges

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to change the (a) age limits, (b) income qualifications or (c) chronic condition categories relating to NHS prescription charges and exemption decisions.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive is committed to reviewing NHS prescription charges for people with chronic health conditions and young people in full-time education or training. We have no plans at present to review other elements of the prescription charge exemption and remission arrangements.

Prescription Charges

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive why patients with a chronic mental health condition are not exempt from NHS prescription charges.

Malcolm Chisholm: The medical conditions which confer eligibility for free prescriptions are listed in NHS regulations. The Executive is committed to reviewing NHS prescription charges for people with chronic health conditions and young people in full-time education or training. It is our firm intention, as part of the review process, to consult widely with patient interest groups, NHS professionals and other key stakeholders. This will ensure that all the interests and concerns expressed, including those of people who suffer from chronic mental illness, are taken into account. I expect to be able to make an announcement about the detailed remit and conduct of the review shortly.

Prescription Charges

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has compared the relative cost of NHS prescriptions in Scotland to the cost to patients in other European countries that use a similar system of charging.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive has not conducted an exercise of this kind.

Rail Services

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new train carriages have been (a) ordered and (b) introduced in each year since 1960.

Nicol Stephen: Information prior to May 1997 is not held centrally. After that date, the ScotRail franchise has benefited from the delivery of 222 new train carriages. The table shows how many new train carriages have been (a) ordered and (b) introduced.

  

 Year
 Number of New 
  Carriages Ordered
 Number of New 
  Carriages Introduced


 1998
 159
 0


 1999
 33
 45


 2000
 6
 27


 2001
 0
 66


 2002
 0
 54


 2003
 87*
 15


 2004
 0
 15



  Note:

  *The remaining 63 new carriages which have been ordered will be delivered in 2004-05.

Residential Care

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3039 by Mr Tom McCabe on 14 November 2003, when the strategic review of the care home sector will be published.

Mr Tom McCabe: Work on the review is continuing. I expect to see a report in the coming months.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has in respect of the regulations relating to the construction of roads and bridges and the upgrading of roads to dual carriageway status; what the criteria are which govern the decision as to whether an existing trunk road, comprising two carriageways, one carrying traffic in each direction, or part of such a road, should be upgraded to dual carriageway, and whether such a decision would be made by it or Her Majesty's Government.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive has full powers under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 in relation to the construction of trunk roads and bridges, including the upgrading of single carriageway trunk roads to dual carriageway.

  Any proposal to upgrade a road has to be appraised using the Executive’s Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG). This involves an assessment of the proposal against the Executive’s five appraisal objectives of environment, safety, economy, integration and accessibility. The STAG appraisal enables the Executive to gauge the proposal against the potential value of competing proposals to improve transport. For example, STAG involves an examination of corridor transport growth projections; planned land use changes; economic growth; availability of public transport; and accident history. It also takes account of social aspects, such as accessibility; economic return; the environment; and the scope for interim improvement such as carriageway widening and other measures. These all have a part to play in making the case for prioritising improvement of any particular route.

  If a positive case can be demonstrated following a STAG appraisal, this does not automatically lead to an improvement scheme being placed on the Executive’s investment programme. It must then compete for funding against other worthwhile schemes and demonstrate that it represents good value for money and good use of available public funds.

  The decision on whether or not to proceed with any upgrade of a trunk road would be made by the Scottish Executive. Non-trunk roads and bridges are a matter for the relevant local roads authority.

Vaccines

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what incentives, financial and otherwise, are available to individuals and NHS boards to promote vaccination uptake.

Malcolm Chisholm: The ultimate incentive for the public to take up the offer of immunisation is the protection it offers against a number of serious and potentially fatal diseases.

  General Practitioners currently receive a range of payments for providing immunisations. These range from straight payments for each immunisation to a target payment system for childhood immunisations and pre-school boosters, where they receive payments for immunising 70% of eligible patients on their list and a higher payment for immunising 90% of eligible patients on their list. For influenza immunisations, GPs are paid on a sliding scale basis, whereby the more eligible people they immunise, then the higher the payment.

  In 2003, the Executive made available £300,000 to assist NHS boards in taking forward additional work in relation to the Hib booster initiative and the pneumococcal/flu immunisation campaign.

Vaccines

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the take-up rate of the MMR triple vaccine has been in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board.

Malcolm Chisholm: The uptake of MMR at 24 months by NHS board for the previous three years is as follows:

  

 NHS Board
 Year
Jan-Dec 2001
% MMR coverage at 24 mths
 Year
Jan-Dec 2002
% MMR coverage at 24 mths

 Year
Jan-Dec 2003
% MMR coverage at 24 mths



 Argyll and Clyde
 88.4
 87.5
 85.6


 Ayrshire and Arran
 87.9
 87.5
 85.8


 Borders
 89.9
 87.2
 88.1


 Dumfries and Galloway
 93.8
 93.7
 90.4


 Fife
 87.4
 87.2
 87.8


 Forth Valley
 90.6
 90.8
 88.6


 Grampian
 90.2
 88.3
 85.7


 Greater Glasgow
 86.3
 86.0
 86.0


 Highland
 79.1
 80.5
 78.8


 Lanarkshire
 89.1
 88.1
 87.4


 Lothian
 89.6
 89.1
 88.9


 Orkney
 93.5
 90.0
 86.4


 Shetland
 86.0
 78.3
 65.5


 Tayside
 90.8
 90.0
 89.0


 Western Isles
 84.9
 82.8
 85.3



  Source: Figures provided by Information and Statistics Division (ISD) of Common Services Agency.

Victim Support

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in developing the Victim Information and Advice service throughout Scotland and what the timetable is for rolling out the service.

Mrs Elish Angiolini: The Victim Information and Advice (VIA) service is available in all Fiscal Areas. At present, the following districts are covered:

  Paisley, Kilmarnock, Stirling, Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Stranraer, Kirkcaldy, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin, Peterhead, Stonehaven, Inverness, Airdrie, Hamilton, Lanark, Edinburgh and Dundee.

  These districts account for 73% of the total caseload of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS).

  COPFS is committed to making the service available to the whole of Scotland by the end of 2004.

Water

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an update on its progress in implementing the Water Framework Directive.

Allan Wilson: I am publishing today the first annual report on the implementation of the Water Framework Directive, the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 – Annual Report to the Scottish Parliament . I am placing copies of this document in the Parliament’s Reference Centre, (Bib. number 31961).